Critical Analysis: Euronav (NYSE:CMBT) vs. Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB)

Safe Bulkers (NYSE:SB) and Euronav (NYSE:CMBT) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Risk and Volatility

Safe Bulkers has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Euronav has a beta of -0.12, suggesting that its stock price is 112% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Safe Bulkers and Euronav’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Safe Bulkers	33.17%	11.58%	6.92%
Euronav	117.02%	22.29%	10.17%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.7% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned by institutional investors. 40.3% of Safe Bulkers shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Safe Bulkers and Euronav, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Safe Bulkers	0	0	1	0	3.00
Euronav	0	0	0	0	0.00

Safe Bulkers presently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 70.94%. Given Safe Bulkers’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Safe Bulkers is more favorable than Euronav.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Safe Bulkers and Euronav”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Safe Bulkers	$318.43 million	1.18	$77.35 million	$0.90	3.90
Euronav	$982.85 million	1.93	$858.03 million	$5.93	1.59

Euronav has higher revenue and earnings than Safe Bulkers. Euronav is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Safe Bulkers, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Safe Bulkers pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Euronav pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Safe Bulkers pays out 22.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Euronav pays out 8.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

About Safe Bulkers

Safe Bulkers, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides marine drybulk transportation services. It owns and operates drybulk vessels for transporting bulk cargoes primarily coal, grain, and iron ore. The company has a fleet of 47 drybulk vessels having an aggregate carrying capacity of 4,719,600 deadweight tons. Its fleet consists of 10 Panamax class vessels, 11 Kamsarmax class vessels, 18 post-Panamax class vessels, and 8 Capesize class vessels. Safe Bulkers, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Monaco.

About Euronav

Euronav NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation and storage of crude oil worldwide. The company offers floating, storage, and offloading (FSO) services. It also owns and operates a fleet of vessels. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. As of March 15, 2024, Euronav NV operates as subsidiary of CMB NV.